COUNTRY FACTSHEET: CZECH REPUBLIC 213 EUROPEAN MIGRATION NETWORK 1. Introduction This EMN Country Factsheet provides a factual overview of the main policy developments in migration and international protection in the Czech Republic during 213, including latest statistics. 2. Legal Migration and Mobility 2.1. PROMOTING LEGAL MIGRATION CHANNELS During 213, the Ministry of Interior continued to run three main communication channels (website, telephone and e-mail hotline) through which it provides information to third-country nationals (TCNs) on possibilities of legal migration to the Czech Republic. The use of these channels increased significantly in 213 compared to 212. Three information projects for non-eu nationals were also implemented by the Ministry of Interior in 213. These aimed at targeting different phases of TCNs arrival. Overall the projects provided information on the departure, targeted TCNs who have arrived in the country and were looking for a long-term residency, and finally one project aimed to provide information for those already residing in the Czech Republic. In 213, under the framework of the Mobility Partnership with Georgia, attention was paid to raise awareness towards the introduction of conditions of legal migration to the EU and risks related to the irregular migration. 2.2. ECONOMIC MIGRATION In 213 the Ministry of Labour and Social affairs and the Ministry of Interior prepared a new legislation to transpose the Single Permit Directive (211/98/EU). As a result, the work permits issued by regional branches will be replaced by a dual document a single permit called employment card. The single permit system will replace the Green Card Scheme. In 213, under the European Social Fund funding, the project Development of counselling for Foreigners by the Labour Office was implemented. As part of this project an interactive mobile application regarding the residing and employment information for foreigners as well as information for employers of foreigners would be developed. The application should contribute to decreasing the language barriers and decrease the risk of social exclusion. Regarding cooperation with third countries, in 213 the Czech Republic started to implement the EU Mobility Partnership agreement with Georgia and Armenia. A Mobility Partnership agreement with Azerbaijan was under negotiation. Also in 213, the Czech Republic continued to work on facilitating environment for highly qualified workers, including the project Fast Track which aimed to streamline the procedure of entry and employment of third country nationals under intra-corporate transfers. The project Welcome package for investors was also launched in July 213. The latter aimed to improve the entry and employment procedure for key foreign workers who need to obtain residency and work permits in connection with their investment in the Czech Republic. 2.3. FAMILY REUNIFICATION In 213 there were no major changes to existing policies and legislation concerning family reunification. 2.4. INTEGRATION In 213 the Ministry of Interior together with the NGO Slovo 21, tested special Welcome courses for newly arrived immigrants who considered a long-term stay in the Czech Republic. As part of the welcome courses TCNs would receive an informative brochure containing information such as: the country s institutions and basic aspects of the society, obligations and rights of residents and contact details to other sources of useful information. The information package also included a documentary film and a checklist. The Regional Foreign Nationals Integration Support Centre in Prague, under the European Integration Fund (EIF) funding and the Ministry of Interior, established the first Forum of Immigrants. The
forum gathers representatives of migrants to participate in the negotiations of governmental Committee for rights of immigrants. Also, several integration projects were implemented by municipalities in 8 communities. These focused on providing services such as social and law counselling, language course, social-cultural minimum, support of education in schools and cultural exchange. In the context of the Prague Process Action Plan the Czech Republic implemented the project Development of Joint Principles, Procedures and Standards on the Integration of Labour Immigrants between the Russian Federation and European partners. The objective was to contribute to the development of migration management systems in the Russian Federation with a focus on integration policies for labour immigrants. 2.5 MANAGING MIGRATION AND MOBILITY 1 In 213 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced a new internal electronic registration system for the visa stickers. The new system allows the consulates/ Ministry to follow up the visas at every step of the process. By the end of October 213 the Visa Information System (VIS) was implemented at the embassies in: Abuja, Accra, Addis Abeba, Pretoria, Santiago de Chile, Brasilia, Sao Paulo (the Consulate General), Buenos Aires and Lima. In 213 the Czech Republic signed nine visa representation agreements, from which in five the Czech Republic is representing another country 2 and in four agreements Czech Republic is represented by another Member State 3. The drafting of the National Schengen Plan 214 started in 213. The new National Plan would be adopted in April 214 for the period of 214-22. An amendment to the Foreign Nationals Act was drafted to fully transpose the EU legislation regarding the air carriers liability. The amendment would enter into force in June 214. 3. International Protection and Asylum Amendments to the Asylum Act 4 entered into force on 1 st May 213. 5 The changes now allow beneficiaries 1 Managing migration and mobility refers to the following themes: visa policy, Schengen governance and border monitoring. 2 France in Ukraine (Lviv); Hungary in Iraq (Baghdad for diplomatic passports holders only), Mongolia (Ulaan Baatar); Austria in Iraq (Baghdad for diplomatic passports holders only); Estonia in Iraq (Baghdad), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Mongolia (Ulaan Baatar) 3 France in Mali (Bamako); Hungary in Qatar (Dauha), Singapore, China (for permanent residents of Chongging and for Sichuan, Yunnan, Guanghzou, Gansu and Shanxi provinces only); Austria in Senegal (Dakar); Slovakia in Cyprus (Nicosia) 4 Act No 325/1999 Coll. of subsidiary protection to benefit from integration support under the same conditions as persons with granted asylum. During 213 the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) set an obligation for the Ministry of Interior to provide detailed rationalisation for postponed or delayed decisions regarding the asylum applicants. The decision of SAC confirmed that an asylum seeker may leave the territory of the Czech Republic for a short term which is contrary to the Asylum Act. In addition, the decision allowed asylum seekers to send written evidence accepted in all languages. According to the decision, the administrative body would have the obligation to translate such evidence to Czech or to the language of the administrative procedure. The Czech Republic continued to actively participate in the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) activities. In 213 it seconded two national experts to EASO as well as nominated experts to Asylum Intervention Pool (four experts in five profiles), Training and Expert Pool (three experts) and their deployment in the Asylum Intervention Teams in Greece and Italy. 4. Unaccompanied Minors and other Vulnerable Groups No changes were made in the system of care and treatment of unaccompanied minors applying for international protection, in particular due to low number of cases in 213. Also no significant changes in relation to other vulnerable groups were carried out during 213. 5. Actions against Trafficking in Human Beings In August 213 a new law on victims of crimes entered into force. The law stipulates that victims of trafficking in human beings (children including) belong to especially vulnerable group of victims therefore the range of rights has been widened. Also a new information package for police officers was drafted to ensure the access to services and information during the criminal proceedings. Between January and October 213 a total of 19 victims 6 entered the Programme of Support and Protection of VOTs. 6. External Dimension of EU Migration Policy In February 213 the Government approved the first ever Multilateral Development Cooperation Strategy of the Czech Republic 213-217. The strategy focuses on the following: the prevention of conflict proliferation; illegal migration and organised 5 The amendment was addressing the Directive 211/51/EU of the EP, Council Directive 23/19/EC and Directive 211/95/EU of the EP. 6 Mainly from Romania, Slovakia and Czech Republic 2
crime; the climate, conflict and food insecurity related migration; protection of internally displaced persons and refugees; and the stabilisation and socio-economic development of legal migrants and returnees. The strategy also acknowledges the need for better political dialogue on migration and more practical cooperation in particular with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In Czech Republic it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that has the overall responsibility for the official development cooperation. Migration issues are addressed within the different bilateral cooperation programmes (Afghanistan, Moldova and Mongolia), development projects (in addition to the previously mentioned countries also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Palestine) as well as in the humanitarian assistance programmes (Ethiopia, Somalia, Mali, Myanmar, and South Sudan). 7. Irregular Migration Directors' Immigration Services Conference (GDISC), the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and Eurostat. At national level, information on migration and asylum is exchanged through the EMN National Contact Point and its national network. Also, in 213 a national conference on Immigration of highly qualified third country nationals was organised. The event gathered relevant stakeholders from state administration, business and academia to discuss future policy initiatives. Information is also exchanged through the Visegrad Group and Salzburg Forum. STATISTICAL ANNEX The Statistical Annex provides an overview of the latest available statistics for the Czech Republic on aspects of migration and asylum (211-213), including residence, asylum, unaccompanied minors, irregular migration, return and visas. Where statistics are not yet available, this is indicated in the Annex as N/A. In 213 the implementation protocol of the EU Readmission agreement with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina entered into force, whilst an implementation protocol was signed with Ukraine and another protocol was negotiated with Georgia. The Czech Republic initiated migration bilateral dialogues with China, India and Turkey and reinstalled the dialogue with Ukraine. Also, in 213 the Czech Republic prepared the Programme Conducting Humanitarian Evacuations of Citizens with Medical Problems (MEDEVAC) for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Regarding border control cooperation, the Czech Republic participated in ten Frontex operations 7 in order to support Member States experiencing disproportionate pressure at the border. Due to its geographical location (air borders only) the Czech Republic does not carry out any special operations with third countries, but the directorate of the Alien Police Services cooperates with the IOM, especially in the area of implementation voluntary returns (in particular to Vietnam, Mongolia and Uzbekistan). 8. Provision and Exchange of Information to support Policy Development At EU level, the Czech Republic mainly exchanges information with other Member States via the European Migration Network (EMN), the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), Frontex, General 7 MIZAR I (benefitting Romania and Spain), MIZAR II (Austria), FPO Air (Greece and Italy), FPO Land (Slovakia, and two operations benefitting Poland), JO NEPTUNE (Hungary, Croatia), JO MINERVA (Spain) and Rapid intervention exercise (Hungary and Romania) 3
Statistical Annex: Immigration and Asylum in Czech Republic (211-213) Figure 1: First residence permits, by reason (211-213) 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Total Family reasons Education reasons Remunerated activities 211 212 213 Other reasons Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_resfirst), extracted 28 July 214 Table 1: First residence permits: Top five third-country nationalities (211-213) 211 212 213 1. Ukraine 5,521 1. Ukraine 18,152 1. Ukraine 18,622 2. Russia 3,327 2. Russia 5,211 2. Russia 7,146 3. United States 2,679 3. Vietnam 3,698 3. Vietnam 4,915 4. Vietnam 2,18 4. United States 3,52 4. United States 2,359 5. Kazakhstan 865 5. Kazakhstan 1,162 5. Kazakhstan 1,137 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_resfirst), extracted 28 July 214 Figure 2: Resident population of third-country nationals (211-213) 3, 281,336 271,71 261,654 25, 2, 15, 1, 5, 211 212 213 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_pop1ctz), extracted 4 June 214 Table 2: Resident population: Top five third-country nationalities (211-213) 211 212 213 1. Ukraine 123,62 1. Ukraine 117,34 1. Ukraine 17,696 2. Vietnam 6,189 2. Vietnam 58,4 2. Vietnam 56,846 3. Russia 29,629 3. Russia 29,395 3. Russia 29,958 4. Moldova 8,79 4. Moldova 7,492 4. Moldova 6,155 5. Mongolia 5,454 5. China 5,335 5. China 5,333 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_pop1ctz), extracted 4 June 214 4
Figure 3: Asylum applications (211-213) 8 755 755 71 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 211 212 213 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), extracted 4 June 214 Table 3: Asylum applications: Top five third-country nationalities (211-213) 211 212 213 1. Ukraine 15 1. Ukraine 175 1. Ukraine 145 2. Belarus 7 2. Syria 7 2. Syria 7 3. Russia 45 3. Belarus 55 3-4. Russia and Vietnam 5 4. Vietnam 45 4. Vietnam 55 5-6. Armenia and Cuba 4 5. Mongolia 4 5. Russia 4 7.Stateless 3 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyappctza), extracted 4 June 214 Table 4: Asylum applications - First instance decisions by outcome (211-213) 8 Of which: Total Positive Refugee Subsidiary Humanitarian decisions decisions status protection reasons Negative decisions 211 685 32 15 2 1 365 212 735 175 5 125 5 56 213 92 345 9 24 15 57 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), extracted 4 June 214 Figures 4-6: Asylum applications - First instance decisions by outcome (211-213) 54% 211 29 % 2% 15% 76% 212 7% 17%.7 % 62% 213 Granted refugee status 1% 26% 2% Granted subsidiary protection Granted humanitarian protection Negative decisions Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asydcfsta), extracted 4 June 214 Table 5: Third-country nationals relocated and resettled (211-213) 211 212 213 Third-country nationals relocated* Third-country nationals resettled 23* 25 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_asyresa), extracted 6 June 214; Commission Staff Working Document -Accompanying the 5th Annual Report on Immigration and Asylum 213; * Data provided by CZ National Contact Point according to CZ EMN Annual Policy reports 5
Table 6: Unaccompanied minors (211-213) 211 212 213 Unaccompanied minors (total) N/A N/A N/A Unaccompanied minors not applying for asylum N/A N/A 14 9 Unaccompanied minor asylum applicants 1 5 2 Source: EMN, A Descriptive Analysis of the Impacts of the Stockholm Programme 21-213:213 provisional data obtained from the 213 National Contributions to the EMN Annual Report 213 Table 7: Number of third-country nationals refused entry at external borders (211-213) 211 212 213 Third-country nationals refused entry at external borders 36 19 31 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_eirfs), extracted 4 June 214 Figure 7: Number of third-country nationals found to be illegally present (211-213) 4, 3,5 3, 2,5 2, 1,5 1, 5 3,695 3,85 3,315 211 212 213 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_eipre), extracted 4 June 214 Table 8: Third-country nationals returned (211-213) Third-country Returned as part of Returned Returned through an nationals ordered to forced return measures* voluntarily* Assisted Voluntary Return leave Programme* 211 2,52 144 258 249 212 2,375 495 29 254 213 2,45 195 19 174 Source: Eurostat migration statistics (migr_eiord), extracted 4 June 214; Commission Staff Working Document - Accompanying the 5th Annual Report on Immigration and Asylum 213; * Data provided by CZ National Contact Point according to Statistical Annex of CZ EMN Annual Policy reports 211, 212 and 213. Table 9: Number of visas issued by type (211-213) 211 212 213 Total visas 567,15 591,28 64,78 Schengen visa (short-stay visas) 555,37 581,257 629,168 National visa 12,113 1,23 1,91 Source: Data provided by CZ National Contact Point according to Statistical Annex to EMN Annual Policy Reports 211, 213 and 213. 9 The figure provides only data according to unaccompanied minors accommodated in the Facility for Children of Foreign Nationals of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. It does not express total number of recognised unaccompanied minors who did not apply for asylum. 6